Troy Spring offers a clear, cool summer escape

Swimmer, snorkelers, and scuba divers are escaping the summer heat in the clear water of Troy Springs State Park near Brantford. The first magnitude spring drops about 70 feet and remains a refreshing 72 degrees throughout the year. Its clear open water makes Troy Springs especially popular with new scuba divers and students completing their open water dive training. But visitors can find more than natural beauty beneath the surface. In the shallow spring run is the remains of the Civil War era steamship Madison. The vessel once carried mail and supplies along the Suwannee River before serving Confederate forces as a privateer and makeshift gunboat. In 1863 the Madison was deliberately sunk to prevent it from becoming captured by the Union troops. Today swimmers and snorkelers can look down on the remains of that history while enjoying one of North Florida's most popular natural swimming pools.